Into the Wild

Jambo!
It has been ages, I know. Internet access in Africa is tres slow. So much to catch up on...
Delhi was short but sweet. Met some great people and saw some sights. Really noticed the poverty and the people with deformities who used it to beg for money. Seemed more prevalent than in Calcutta.

Then it was on to Kenya. I just spent one day in Nairobi and then I did a 3 day safari in Masai Mara. It was incredible! We saw tons of elephants, lions, jackals, buffalo, warthogs, impala, hippos, crocs, many different birds... We did 4 game drives in the three days and the second day we drove all the way to Tanzania! Our safari van had a roof that opened up so we were really right next to the animals with nothing to block the view. The highlight was the three lions sleeping next to a buffalo carcass (the morning's kill) while 6 jackals alternately ripped it apart and watched for the lions to wake up. We also got to see lion mothers and cubs. The first night our guides took us into the Masai Mara village to hang out with the locals and listen to Kenyan music. It was definitely a highlight as well.

After the Mara I went to Lake Naivasha for a few days. The plan was to bike through the park (the only one in Kenya you can go into without a guide and vehicle) but I rode right past the turnoff and didn't realize my mistake for 15km. By the time I got back to the park I was exhausted and decided to pass. But I still saw giraffe, zebra, and impala on my ride near the park! The Lake was a great place to relax and the camp I stayed at had a social restaurant where I met other travelers and watched monkeys frolic.

Next stop was the coast. After 24 hours of buses and matatus (shared vans) and a boat, I arrived on the very chill island of Lamu on Kenya's NE coast. I planned to spend 2 dys there and work my way down to Mombasa, but I liked it so much I stayed for 5. The first night I went to the home of a local chef, Chef Alli Hippie, who supposedly once cooked for the Rolling Stones when they were in Kenya. The meal was by far the best I've had in Africa. Seafood fritters, fresh chapati and sauce, coconut rice, fish, and lobster. Plus a desert, juice and live entertainment from Alli's family after the meal. I met some other travelers at dinner including Paul from England who became my Lamu partner in crime. The next day we went to the beach and checked out the little town of Shela (where I accidentaly ordered entrails for lunch- ICK). Later we met some local guys who took us to a nearby local village to taste palm wine. I got a little oversunned that day so I spent the next couple of days doing a lot of reading and going to the local musuems. I also learned to play Bao which involves a wooden board and stones. Finally I felt it was time to move on and headed to Mombasa.

I didn't love Mombasa so I spent an afternoon on Diani beach which is about 45 minutes south (if I go back, I'll stay there instead- great place!). Then I headed to Tanzania! Yesterday I stopped over in a little coastal town called Tanga and today I came to Dar. Just arrived here so not much to report but Zanzibar is just off the coast so time to blow the budget again and check it out (I mean it is Zanzibar...). Oh but NB on my last post, Kara had to cancel in the end so I opted not to do Kilimanjaro. It'll have to stay on the list for now.

More soon!

Free Tibet!

No, I'm not going all political, I'm just quoting the signs, shirts, etc that are everywhere in McLeod Ganj. Seriously, I have seen more Free Tibet paraphernalia here than I have seen the rest of my life combined (and remember, I lived in Portland AND San Francisco). The reason for this is that McLeod Ganj and Dharamsala have a large Tibetan refugee community and are home to the Dali Lama as well as the Tibetan Parliament in Exile. Pretty interesting stuff as I've bever been exposed to a population and governemnt in exile.

Giong to take a moment to voice my frustration that once again there is an issue with my card, reader or this computer so I cannot upload my India pictures. Will try another cybercafe later. Grr.

Right. Well more about McLeod Ganj. Its a big traveler town with lots of yoga and meditation and buddhism classes. I may have touched on that in my last post. I didn't partake in any of this but it is interesting to be surrounded by it. For me, the highlight of my time in McLeod was the day hike I did to Triund. Triund is 9 km from Mcleod pretty much straight up. It was quite a hike but at the end you come over a ridge and there is a lovely meadow with colorful tents set up surrounded by loads of snowy mountain peaks that look close enough to touch. Totally worth the climb! I'd show you a picture but... OK letting that go. Also near McLeod I walked 2 km to Bhagsu and the waterfall and temple there. The waterfall is really a trickle at the moment but the people watching on the walk there was worthwhile. I also walked up 3 km a few times to the little village of Dharamkot which is smaller and more picturesque than McLeod and has a great vibe. It is also a haven for Israelis (all the restaurants serve Israeli food and there are loads of them there).

I decided to head north to the hill station of Dalhousie in the Chamba Valley instead of going to Shimla or Manali. It was fairly quiet and had some nice scenery but overall I wasn't that impressed. I had some issues with my guesthouse and kind of got ripped off on a day tour and just spent a day there before coming back to McLeod. Basically, if you get the choice, I say skip it and go to Manali. The one impressive thing about Dalhousie was the gigantic monkeys that were everywhere. Big white ones with black faces that were about the size of a human teenager. Pretty crazy. There are also many monkeys in McLeod but they are more your run of the mill little brown fellas.

Not much else to report at the moment. I've been catching up on movies here are they show them at a few makeshift cinemas in town. The momos here aren't as good as in West Bengal and Sikkim but there is lots of other good Indian and Tibetan food. Tonight I take an overnight bus to Delhi and Monday morning I fly out to Kenya. I'm hoping Kara's firm will figure out when she can meet me in Tanzania for Kilimanjaro. Its been pushed back 3 times now. Everyone cross your fingers for her as I really am excited to do that!

Got the pics up! Here is the link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/stacyb/India#

West Sikkim and the road to McLeod

Howdy,

So West Sikkim. Well I shared a jeep with the couple from the lake trip, Sara and Mike so we got a room together in Pelling in West Sikkim. The room was kinda like summer camp in that it was made of wood and had a cabin type of feel. We also had a TV (luxury) which was good since it poured down rain our first day there. We also met up with my friend Dan from Darjeeling in Pelling. Once the rain cleared we hiked up to a huge monastery with a very ornate sculpture on the top floor. There were also very suggestive murals covered by sheets which we found amusing. Wlking in Sikkim is always hiking. Everything is stright up or straight down. And it totally felt like a lot more up than down (doesn't it always). Just thought you should know. So after the first monastery we trekked up to Pelling's other famous monastery which is the second oldest in Sikkim. And man was that walk exhausting! But the views from the top were nice and we posed in photos with Indian tourists (which never ceases to amuse me- they love us). Later we had beers on the rooftop of our hotel with Dan and some guys he'd met and an impromptu jam session broke out. Gotta love "Hotel California" in India. We later went to see some live music (Stevie Wonder covers and all).

From Pelling we piled 14 people into a jeep made for 8 and headed for Yuksom. Yuksom is the historic spot where 3 lamas met in the 1400s and decided to create Sikkim. The stone they sat on, Coronation Rock, is still there. Yuksom is a cute little mountain village. It has an 8 PM curfew but we discovered that if you head to a restaurant, you can stay out until 10 (don't tell). So we had dinner and Tongba and met a nice Frenchman and made plans to go hiking the following day.

The hike was part of the "monastic trek" and 9 km to Ketchapari Lake. 9 km does not sound like much but keep in mind it is Sikkim. The first 5 km were super steep downhill into a valley and then we had to climb 4 km back up to the lake on the other side. Plus the trail was not all that well marked so we had to keep asking locals for directions. It was a long, hot, 3 hour hike. But the lake was very peaceful and there is absolutely no debris on it. Legend has it that it is a holy lake and the birds keep it spotless. We spent the night at a homestay above the lake with great views of the valley- you could see all the way back to Yuksom. And the food was terrific! I didn't realize that random forrest plants could taste so good. Sara, Mike, Dan, and Alain liked the lake so much they decided to spend another night. I had to head on though since my permit for SIkkim was about to expire. So I trekked back alone (very glad I'd loaded up my iPod with Mike's music) and spent one more night in Yuksom.

The next couple of days were tedious travel days so I won't bore you with details of jeeps back to Siliguri and a 21 hour train to Delhi followed by a 5 hour train to Chandigarh. Chandigarh is where I decided to stopover on my way to McLeod Ganj (because I couldn't face 12 hours on a bus after 21 on a train). Chandigarh is India's experimental architecture city. It was designed by a famous Swiss architect whose name eludes me at the moment (Le something). It is very clean and set up in a grid with numbered sectors. There are many gardens and a big lake in the center of town. There is also a huge rock garden that reminded me a lot of Parke Guell in Barcelona. My only complaint about Chandigarh (other than the heat- NEVER go to southern India in May or early june) was that accommodation was really expensive. Oh well- just a stopover.

Yesterday morning I got on a bus to Dharamsala. Eight long, hot, sweaty hours later (no AC on the bus) I arrived and got a taxi to McLeod Ganj (was planning to take another bus but apparently the bus driver was drunk and the next bus was 1.5 hours later). McLeod Ganj is home of the Tibetan government in exile (well Dharamsala is but technically McLeod is part of Dharamsala). It has loads of yoga and meditation classes and is a huge Buddhist haven. There is also a good deal of environmental awareness going on here so this morning I participated in a cleanup of a dumping area in town. It was hot and gross and felt a bit like an exercise in futility since we all know the locals will be dumping more trash where we just cleaned (that's how they roll in India), but I got my karma points for the day. After the cleanup I headed to the Dali Lamas residence and temple and to a museum that details the takeover of Tibet and the crimes against humanity committed therein. Pretty disturbing stuff.

So that's me caught up for the moment. Ten more days in India and then I am headed to Kenya to begin the African leg of my trip. I'm deciding between a 4 day trek here or heading to one more place in India before I fly out. We'll see. I definitely will be coming back to India at some point though. It is fascintating! And I have only gotten to see a small bit....

Hope everyone is well.

St